The Third Sorceress War: Part 5: Tears' Point
by Hyne's Knight
Summary: Faceoff at Tears' Point. Lunatic Pandora strikes again.


The Esthar Army wasn't faring too well against the Centra, but the SeeD were performing wonderfully. Laguna instructed the Esthar Army to move to interecept the Galbadian, and leave the more powerful Centra Army to fight the well-trained Seeds. Xu was singlehandedly destroying large strike groups of the Galbadia Army, and she too knew that the SeeD must take on the Centra. She regrouped the SeeD members and they sent an all out charge against the Centrans. Karisto stood motionless in front of the Centra Army, waiting for the SeeD to get close.  
  
Squall and the gang were nearing the "pillar", and prepared to break into it as they did before. The reason for Karisto heading for Tears' Point was now very clear, and they knew they had to stop it before things really got out of hand. The Ragnarok went full speed into the pillar with it's guns blazing. The Ragnarok successfully punctured the shields, and made a nice entrance in the side of the hull. The Orphanage Gang was their again, the Lunatic Pandora, the one thing they feared most, and the only thing on their minds was destroying it once and for all. Rinoa, Squall, and Seifer divided up the people, so that they could cover more ground at once. Quistis, Selphie, and Irvine went one way, Squall, Rinoa and Zell another, and Seifer continued on with Raijin and Fujin, who were still excellent fighters in their own right. The three groups swarmed the Pandora, hoping to destroy the Crystal Pillar, which could swallow up an entire continent with a fall of monsters from the moon. Squall's group went directly to the area where they had fought Adel a few years back, because they knew how to get to the Pillar from there. They were supposed to have destroyed it before, but Ultimecia's Time Compression took hold of their operations before they had a chance. The Pandora was still full of monsters, but they were no match for Elite SeeDs, a Sorceress' Knight, and the Sorceress herself. The groups proceeded as fast as possible, and met up at the Crystal Pillar.  
  
The battle was becoming very harsh. The Galbadians had nearly overtaken the Esthar Army, and the SeeDs weren't doing much better against Centra. If something wasn't done fast, Esthar and SeeD alike would be finished. Nida and the other Garden Pilots were engaged against Galbadia Garden, and they were starting to overcome it. Back in Deling, Andora was getting restless. Her and Caraway hadn't received any reports as of yet, and they began to believe that they weren't going to get one any time soon. Andora finally gave in, and decided to go directly to the battle and see for herself, much to the displeasure of General Caraway. After much debate, Caraway hesitantly agreed to take Andora to the battlefield. She was now getting very anxious, and little bolts of energy were pulsing in and out of her fingers. She was a very evil person, and just the thought of war made her tingle. Her and Caraway made their way to Esthar in their fastest aircraft, and to Andora, light speed wouldn't have been fast enough.  
  
Karisto had been fighting off SeeDs, and sneak attacking Estharians when he decided to demonstrate his power. He moved through a wall of his soldiers, in front of a stunned group of Esthar who were managing to decimate even his best attack forces. He came to them, and put his staff high into the air. A bolt of energy surged through his body, and the staff engulfed in light. he pulled the light covered staff down, and made the energy around it vanish, revealing a powerful sword, that most people would need two hands to control, however Karisto was able to hold it in one. He swung the sword at the Esthar Soldiers, and it knocked them all to the ground with a burst of wind. He proceeded to slaughter them, along with anyone else that got in his way.  
  
Laguna, Kiros, and Ward had long since fled from the battle, and were desperately seeking help from anyone who would offer it, but it was of no use. All hope was beginning to fade, and Laguna was ready to die at any moment. He managed to get Ellone to safety, in an undisclosed location somewhere in Trabia. Laguna decided he may have to go into battle himself, or just run as far away as he could. All of Esthar knew Laguna Loire would not go down without a fight, so running away was out of the question. Laguna went to his cabinet, and got out the gun that had not been used for over 20 years. He blew the dust off of it, and when he returned to the main hall of his Palace, Kiros and Ward were waiting with their Katar and Harpoon. Their only hope was to destroy Karisto, and hope that the Centra Army would collapse without his leadership. At any rate, they weren't going to cower down and run, they were determined to at least give the SeeD a fighting chance. Laguna called Ellone to say goodbye, crying silently the entire time. Laguna hung up the phone, cried a little more, then walked out the door, to confront Karisto.  
  
Squall and the others were now looking face to face with the ominous Crystal Pillar. Rinoa flared up a beam of energy, and proceeded to destroy it, when they all heard a loud bang, as if something had touched down on the roof above them. Rinoa was nearly finished with the Pillar when the roof began to crack. A small hole broke out of the roof, and a face peered in. Everyone recognized the face, and they used Rinoa's magic to ascend to the roof. When they got there, all of them were stunned by what they saw. They all had seen it before, but were nonetheless shocked by the presence. Squall and the others stanced themselves, preparing for the fight of their lives. 


End file.
